Young people in Blackbird Leys, Oxford, discuss the lack of affordable leisure activities and facilities in the area. – Vintage Photograph

Young people in Blackbird Leys, Oxford, have identified three main facilities which they find lacking in the area: discos, cafes and sports clubs. Taking into account that the average teenager has a part-time job earning roughly 6 to 8, a trip to a disco is very expensive. The total cost of a night out to a nearby disco can be upwards of 5, which doesn’t include the cost of any drinks. Additionally, there are no direct bus routes to these places, and local cafs close at 5 pm. With regards to sports, the nearest club is over a mile away and there is no club organisation to encourage people to meet others and learn how to play. The lack of facilities is not just confined to Blackbird Leys, but affects the Oxford area as a whole, with young people having to travel to London to go ice-skating. The young people in Blackbird Leys feel that local newspapers could assist by advertising sporting facilities around Oxford, and giving more information about clubs in and around the area.Young people in Blackbird Leys, Oxford, have identified three main facilities which they find lacking in the area: discos, cafes and sports clubs. Taking into account that the average teenager has a part-time job earning roughly 6 to 8, a trip to a disco is very expensive. The total cost of a night out to a nearby disco can be upwards of 5, which doesn’t include the cost of any drinks. Additionally, there are no direct bus routes to these places, and local cafs close at 5 pm. With regards to sports, the nearest club is over a mile away and there is no club organisation to encourage people to meet others and learn how to play. The lack of facilities is not just confined to Blackbird Leys, but affects the Oxford area as a whole, with young people having to travel to London to go ice-skating. The young people in Blackbird Leys feel that local newspapers could assist by advertising sporting facilities around Oxford, and giving more information about clubs in and around the area.

Dimensions: 14.1 x 20.7 cm

IMS SKU: SCAN-NQOX-04922911

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OCR computer generated text:

Looed 2

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Where are young people meant to go? Suzan water. WE considered three main facilities which young people find are Blackbird lacking in Leys: Discos, cafes and sports clubs. Taking into account that the average teenager has a part-time job earning roughly 6 – 8, a trip to a disco is very expensive Here is an example of the price we might pay for one night to a disco out of Blackbird Leys: Distance (2 miles) taxi admission 3.50; fare 1.50; total 5.00. The total price does not include the cost of any drinks. You can see that almost all our wages are spent on just one night out. The main problem in going to a proper disco is means of travelling. There are no direct bus routes to these places. sion fees of 1.50, or perhaps more, surely Share people would be able to afford the taxi fares? Secondly, we thought about the lack of cafs in Blackbird Leys. There are no facilities here for young people who want to meet others, have na drink and a chat in a caf. The nearest place is Centre. Then Cowley there are only two cafs. These are normally busy with people who are hav- ing a drink after having shopping. done their to which these Added local cafs close at 5 pm. What we really need are local facilities so we can drop in when we are free. We need somewhere that we can go and swap infor- mation and meet other young people. Also some place we can hang posters, and advertising discos other things that go on in the area. Finally, we considered the problem of there not sports being enough facilities particularly clubs which young people our age can use. All of the discos men- tioned (Scamps, Fingals, etc) are for over 18s only, but young people do man- age to get in (mention no names!). If these discos were to drop the admis- By Jane Dunlop, Sheila Beck, Suzanne Wyatt and Wayne Drink- With some sports, the main difficulty is that there is no club in the which area immediate means having to travel considerable distances to facilities. With find squash the nearest club is over a mile away. Tennis has similar prob- lems in that there are only three tennis courts on Blackbird Leys which are in rather poor condition. The nets are only put up for part of the season and there is no club organisa- tion to encourage people to meet others and learn how to play. The problem is not just confined Blackbird to as a Leys, but takes in Oxford whole. We have already had to travel to London this year to go ice-skating. This is some- thing which we would like to do more often but can simply not afford to. are Besides the lack of facilities which sports exists, we feel there is also a problem in that many young people not aware of the facilities or clubs that they could be using. Here we feel that perhaps local newspapers could assist by advertising sporting facilities around Oxford, and give more information about clubs in and around this area. -7 MAY 1981